


Cross-Contamination

by InsaneTrollLogic



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Forensics, Gen, filling a plot hole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:56:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5797762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsaneTrollLogic/pseuds/InsaneTrollLogic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All CCPD employees have their DNA on file. And the Flash has bled on a lot of crime scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cross-Contamination

**Author's Note:**

> Pretend for a second that the CCPD actually takes precautions against evidence contamination. And doesn't you know have leaking skylights(?) IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR FORENSICS LAB.

Ten seconds, _ten seconds_ into work and Singh calls Barry into his office. He’s still out of breath from his last second dash to the precinct, one of his calorie bars half eaten in his pocket and he’s only… he checks the clock on the wall… only five minutes late.

“Captain,” he starts. “I didn’t think I was—“

“Close the door, Allen,” Captain Singh interrupts, circling his desk.

Barry catches Joe’s eye as he eases the door shut, his foster father giving him a half shrug. Joe would probably have some idea if he were about to get fired. Barry turns back around, sitting at the chair in front of Singh’s desk. Singh slides a file to him.

Barry stares at it for a moment.

“Mr. Allen, I’m sure you are aware that we keep an internal database of our employee’s DNA on file.”

“Of course,” Barry says. He’d given a cheek swab his first week and one of the woman in processing had fingerprinted him. He’d been on file long before he worked his first crime scene. “Is there something wrong?”

Singh gestures to the file. “This is a report from a crime scene a couple months ago. One of our analysts found traces of blood. She collected it and submitted it to evidence. From spatter patterns and what we know of the scene, the likely source is the Flash.”

Barry reaches for the folder, careful to keep his movements slow. He recognizes the case. Tony Woodward. From the night he’d taken Iris to their old high school.

Barry hadn’t been on call that night. Hadn’t worked the scene.

“Go ahead, Allen,” Singh says.

Barry opens the file, skims the police report, Iris’s statement. Notes with a twinge of guilt that Tony is listed as ‘at large’. Then he turns the page to the blood report and yes, that’s his name next to internal matches. He scans the data. He’s a CSI, not a DNA analyst, but he knows enough to recognize several anomalies. A pair of microvariants in the alleles, not enough to remove his name from the list, but enough to lower confidence in the match. Conclusion lists the blood as a convolution between Barry Allen and an unknown subject. But if what Caitlin told him was right, the dark matter from the particle accelerator explosion had fused with him, altered him on a molecular level.

This is his DNA.

He looks up to meet Captain Singh’s eyes.

“Cross-contamination,” Singh says.

Barry feels something loosen in his chest. “That was my first assessment.”

But he knows, just like the reporting analyst must have known, that convolutions don’t look like this. From the look on Captain Singh’s face, he must know it too. “Normal protocol in this case would be resubmitting the DNA sample, but department policy regarding the Flash has changed. This sample was submitted around the same time Eddie was attacked.”

Barry winces.  

“I’ve spoken with Detective Thawne. It was some kind of misunderstanding. We are no longer actively pursuing the Flash’s identity. You got lucky on this one, Allen, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t address this. I understand you’ve had a rough year, the coma and everything, but I can’t tolerate this kind of sloppiness in an ongoing investigation. I’ve made a note in your personnel file, you’ll receive documentation about the reprimand. If this happens again, you’re looking at suspension. Retraining.”

“Of course,” Barry replies, feeling faint. He closes the file, slides it back across the desk. “It won’t happen again.”

Captain Singh rubs his forehead. “Barry,” he says. “The Flash bleeds on a lot of crime scenes. Most of the people who work here understand why it would be a bad idea to process that blood, but eventually someone’s going to do it again.”

“I don’t really know if the Flash has control over where he bleeds,” Barry replies.

“I know. The entire city knows. The CCPD is doing everything we can to protect him. But as fast as he is, he can help his own case with this one. Best case scenario, we never find anything that might be the Flash’s blood again.” Captain Singh picks the folder back up, juggling the weight in his hands. “Talk to Iris about Flash’s tendency to bleed on crime scenes. With any luck she passes the information onto him.”

“I’ll do that.” Barry stands, reaching for the door. “Is that all?”

“That’s all, Allen,” Captain Singh replies. “No more contamination incidents. I expect the Travis report before you leave.”

“Thank you,” Barry says, feeling a little shell shocked.

“There’s nothing to be thankful for, Allen.” Singh meets his eyes. “But you’re welcome.”


End file.
